Seven Ghosts
The Seven Ghosts: '''namely Zehel, Fest, Profe, Relikt, Vertrag, Ea and Landkarte, are said to be heavenly lights created by the Chief of Heaven, each with their own unique virtue, that were sent from Heaven to dispatch the God of Death, Verloren, for his actions. Despite Verloren's fall about 1000 years ago, the souls of the Seven Ghosts continue to be reincarnated in human bodies, unable to return to Heaven, to guard the earth should Verloren return. The Barsburg Church exists to enshrine them.Said by Lance in Kapitel 23. Each Ghost can be reincarnated in the members of its respective God Houses, but not even members of the God Houses themselves know this is possible.In Kapitel 30, Teito excitedly blurts that members inherit the powers of the Seven Ghosts, but Seilan dismisses this. Now that Relikt and Vertrag have been devoured, and Ea and Landkarte have ascended to Heaven, there are three Ghosts remaining, but Fest is partially devoured. Form 07_ghosts.jpg GhostDesign.png Ghost2.png Ghost3.png Ghost4.png GhostSymbols.png|Ghost symbols and the Cursed ticket. Their true appearance is in the form of a hooded skeleton, (like the grim reaper) each of them wielding a large scythe. Their appearance is the same as Verloren since they are made up of Verloren's fragments. The only way the ghosts are distinguishable from each other are the differing shapes of their scythes.In Kapitel 33, Teito sees Fest, but mistakes him for Zehel and only realises his mistake when he sees the symbol on Fest's scythe. They inhabit the body of their human host, and it is in this human body how they are normally seen. They are indistinguishable from regular humans save for the insignia of their respective ghost on the back of their right hand. A particularly skilled person can detect a Ghost from their presence,In Kapitel 8 Teito is able to single out Castor as a Ghost as he has the same 'scent' as Zehel. but it is implied one only has this ability (to recognise Ghosts in human bodies) once one has come into contact with a Ghost.Teito was only able to sense Castor was a Ghost after he had come into direct contact with another Ghost, Zehel. Since only blood descendants of the Seven Houses of God can be reincarnated as the Seven Ghosts, the vessels/reincarnations of the Ghosts tend to resemble each other e.g. Guido resembled Frau, the Raggs War Relikt resembled Lance etc. The Seven Ghosts Each Ghost has been embodied in a human being with such extraordinary Zaiphon abilities that they are thought to be blessed by God. Each of the Ghosts had died in a previous life, yet still retains all of the memories of their past lives. For more information see the respective Ghost pages: Acting as Ghost There must be seven Ghosts at any one time, but no two people can act as the same Ghost at any one time. When a ghost dies, their soul will find another body to inhabit, and the new host will act as a Ghost. When the first seven arrived on earth, they each assumed a human form and went on to live human lives; they married humans, had human children and died as humans. The Seven Ghosts and their human families went on to form the Seven Houses of God, and the Ghosts' powers were passed on to their children, and further generations. Only blood descendants of the Seven Houses of God can be reincarnated as Ghosts. Becoming a Ghost The Ghost itself (the spirit) needs a human body. A Ghost's powers are hereditary, meaning only a member of a God House (someone who is a descendant of the original Ghost) can be reincarnated as a Ghost. For someone to become a Ghost, they have to die first. It is currently unknown what the circumstances surrounding death are, but it may only occur when the person has died an unnatural death (i.e. murder or suicide, not old age or disease).None of the Ghosts introduced has died a natural death. It may also be a requirement for the vessel to die young. None of the Ghost vessels seen so far appear to be 40 or older. Upon death, the true form of the Ghost (the skeleton) will inhabit the dead body (something akin to using it as a host so the spirit is able to interact with the mortal world), granting the host the ability to 'live' along with the Ghost's power. Rules Ghosts must act in accordance to certain rules. These rules may have been laid down by the Pope, and are monitored by the Archbishop. *Ghosts must never contact persons from their human life.Kapitel 32: Castor says: "Once someone dies it is prohibited by heaven for that person to come in contact with people who knew that death. *Ghosts must never let their existence be known to humans with the exceptions of the Pope,In Kapitel ?, The Pope called Lance "Relikt". the Archbishop,In Kapitel 6, Jio is shown to know Frau, Castor and Labrador are Zehel, Fest and Profe respectively. and the vessels of the Eyes of Mikhail and Raphael.In Kapitel ?, Karu revealed his true identity as Ea to Teito Klein and Roseamanelle Ouka Barsburg. In Kapitel 8, Castor changes his mind about erasing Teito's memories after finding out that Teito is the bearer of the Eye of Mikhail. In Kapitel ?, Weldeschtein Krom Raggs asked Fea Kreuz to erase his (Krom's) memories, implying that he knew Kreuz was Vertrag. Any other human must have his or her memories erased if he or she learns of the existence of the Ghosts. *The protection of mankind against Verloren's forces is the ultimate priority. *Only in the instance that the ghosts complete their mission (specifically, to bring Verloren to Seele, his "Judgement Ground") in life that they will be allowed to return to Heaven. As long as this mission is incomplete, the Seven Ghosts will continue to be reincarnated to pursue an end to this goal. If a Ghost breaks any of the rules set down by the Pope, they will be stripped of their powers,In Kapitel 8 Castor says: "if the higher-ups learn about this you'll be stripped of the right to be a Ghost". resulting in their death- as without the Ghost spirit, the human vessel is essentially just a corpse. Death Death of the body The Ghost spirit will be reincarnated in a new body when the current body dies, and that person will gain all knowledge of the past Ghosts' experiences. Death of the Ghost The only way the spirit of the Ghost can die is if it is 'devoured' by Verloren (meaning the soul is absorbed and becomes a part of Verloren- like it once was). This is done by absorbing the "core" of the current Ghost Incarnate; the core serving as both heart and soul of the reincarnated body. Both Vertrag and Relikt have been 'devoured'. This means their souls will no longer reincarnate in new bodies, so there cannot be a future Vertrag and Relikt. Their statues in the Chruch had also fallen as a sign of this death; it is believed that as long as a Ghost's statue stands, the Ghost will continue to be reincarnated in the world. Castor as Fest had also lost half of his capabilities because Ayanami had devoured it, but is yet to die due to the fact that Ayanami's (also Verloren's) current body is incapable of taking him and all the other Ghosts in. This is supposed to be Ayanami's weakness and in Vol 014 Chp 083 Castor was seen scheming about in a flashback. He indicated to both Frau and Labrador that they could cause Verloren's current body (Ayanami) to self-destruct by forcing it to devour them all (something which Frau strongly disagrees with). Yet later during his and Labrador's capture, Castor notioned that he was hoping to have Ayanami throw the other two--Relikt and Vertrag--out by having himself devoured, meaning there may still be a possibility to recover the other deceased ghosts from Verloren, though this is to be confirmed further in the series. Relation to real-world religion The abilities of the Seven Ghosts include aspects of the Seven Heavenly virtues in Chirstian belief: seven attributes that make up a good person. *Zehel is able to stop a person from being consumed by temptation. The virtue '''temperence is the ability to restrain oneself and fight against desire. *Fest strengthens and maintains the bond between people. The virtue faith is the ability to stay loyal, faithful and committed to another. *Profe can see into the future, and the virtue prudence is associated with foresight, knowledge and wisdom. *Ea's job is to decide who goes to Heaven, and who is reincarnated based on their actions. The virtue justice is defined as 'rendering to each and all what is due to them'. Cultural impact in-series The Ghosts are widely revered in the Barsburg Church (a deeply religious District) as deities; where they are regarded as guardians of humankind and the Church. The religious believe the Ghosts themselves have a direct connection to the Church, and the Church teachings place more importance on the Ghosts than any other deity. Seven statues of the Ghosts have been erected- each one in a tower at the border of the Church- where people go to worship. Annual parades are held in the Church bazaar as a tribute. The Bishops in the Church work to carry out the work of the Ghosts by protecting citizens against the Kor, (a form of Verloren's evil) so are praised as protectors. As a result of their job of punishing bad souls,According to Frau, since Verloren was the God of Death who sends the soul back to earth or, if the soul can no longer be saved, turns it to ashes, thus the 7 ghosts also eat souls. These tainted souls that they have eaten are sent to Heaven. mothers sometimes threaten naughty children that the Seven Ghosts will take them away if they do not behave. In the 1st District, where religion is not as influential, horror stories are sometimes told about the Ghosts stealing souls in a similar way to how stories of Verloren are told in the 7th District.Kapitel 2 page 25, a soldier says "I heard from my grandmother that there are mosters called the Seven Ghosts inside that Church". There is a children's game called 'Seven Ghosts' in the 07-Ghost universe. In a manga chapter, a group of children in the Barsburg Church are shown playing this hide-and-seek game, in which one plays the role of Verloren and hunts out the other children who play the roles of the Seven Ghosts. Abilities and attributes Manipulation of memories: The Seven Ghosts all possess the ability to erase or otherwise alter a person's memories.Shown when Castor/Fest planned to erase Teito's memories, and asked Frau/Zehel why he (Frau/Zehel) had not done so. As humans cannot know of the Ghosts' existence, this is used to erase any memory of the Ghosts in a human. Ghosts are also able to see a person's memories by looking into their soul, something which could be painful for the person if they resist.In Kapitel 38, in a flashback involving Ayanami and a young Teito, Ayanami can be seen looking into Teito's soul while Teito is sat quietly and does not appear to be in any distress. In Kapitel 39, Frau admits to Teito that he looked into his soul, and Frau was able to do so without disturbing Teito from his sleep. In Kapitel 38, during Teito's fight with the soldier, Ayanami looks into Teito's soul, and it causes Teito pain. All Ghosts presumably also have the ability to place a protective seal on a person's memories: a 'defencive mechanism' which causes serious injury to anyone who tries to read the protected memories,In Kapitel 38, Ayanami tries to read Teito's protected memories, and his arm was destroyed. though only Vertrag has been seen doing so. Endurance and recovery: Ghosts are able to recover from injuries faster than ordinary humans.In Kapiel ?, Castor survived an attack from Ayanami and remained an able swordsman even after Ayanami inflicted irreparable damage on his right arm and right eye. In Kapitel 21, Teito landed on Lance's back after jumping from a window to retrieve some balloons, and Lance stood up only moments later, completely unscathed. Since the host body is dead,Their hearts do not beat and their bodies do not give off heat. it is probable that all of them have a much greater tolerance of extremely low temperatures than ordinary humans.Teito felt very cold when travelling in the mountains with Frau while Frau felt fine, and when Labrador slept outside some nights but did not seem affected by the cold. Frau himself admits that his body, as a Ghost, is 'amazingly stubborn'. Regardless of how they died, once reincarnated Ghosts do not suffer any lasting ill effects from their causes of death.Karu was poisoned but was physically perfectly healthy when he reincarnated, and Castor was beheaded but reincarnated with his head intact.The Ghosts also appear to have greater immunity to potentially harmful lifestyle habits e.g. smoking Frau and Guido both smoke a lot, but neither of them has ever had respiratory problems. than most ordinary humans, and can survive life-threatening accidents. Frau was able to survive falling into a chasm. Astral projection: The Ghosts also seem to be able to make their true forms temporarily leave their human, host bodies- though doing so will mean the human body is left immobile and vulnerable.In Kapitel 33, Castor leaves his human body- which collapses and remains unmoving on the ground till Castor returns. The Ghosts are also able to freely teleport between their host body and their respective God House (though they will appear in Ghost form).In Kapitel 33, Castor leaves his human body behind and appears before Teito in the Hausen House to offer him the cursed ticket. Manipulation of souls: Ghosts are all capable of manipulating souls with ease.In Kapitel 89, Katsuragi says: "For the Seven Ghosts, toying with other people's souls is nothing." Language: Upon reincarnation, the Seven Ghosts all gain the ability to understand the language of the gods. Specific abilities As the Ghosts were fashioned from Verloren, each Ghost has a different ability that used to belong to Verloren. For more detail see the respective Ghost pages. * Zehel is able to cut ties binding people to misfortune, and is currently the only one who can control Verloren's Scythe. * Fest can bind souls together. * Profe has the ability to control plants, and see the future. * Relikt has the ability to turn back time and see the past. * Vertrag is able to control (possess) a person by making a contract with them. * Landkarte is able to teleport beings and move distances at a very outstanding speed. * Ea has been shown to possess the Book of Hades, and be the only one to use it. History The creation of the Ghosts The Seven Ghosts are amongst the earliest 'gods' created by the Chief of heaven and their existence dates back roughly 1000 years. At the time of their creation, humanity was already present. The legend of the ghosts tells that Verloren (the God of Death) was in love with the Chief of Heaven's daughter, Eve, but after her skeleton was found and her soul devoured, the Chief of Heaven accused Verloren of killing her. As Eve's soul being devoured automatically forced it to be sent to earth and reincarnated, Verloren escaped the heavens and fled to earth to find her reincarnation. Verloren began looking into the hearts of humans in order to find the soul that originally belonged to Eve. However as he looked, that person's heart was instantly tainted by his presence, and slowly slipped into despair. This meant those souls could not enter Heaven in this life because they were no longer pure, and they would be forced to reincarnate again once they died. When the Chief of Heaven noticed the consequences Verloren's actions had on those souls he looked into, he fashioned seven heavenly lights out of Verloren's fragments, each with one of Verloren's powers, and sent them to execute him. Schedel's Crusade The Ghosts' mission was to take Verloren's body to The Land of Seele- where it would be judged and destroyed, and after they had fulfilled this mission their souls would be able to return to heaven. The ghosts drove Verloren to Seele, but even with their combined strength, they weren't strong enough to destroy him. Faced with this, they instead used the powers of the two angel eyes (Mikhail and Raphael) to tear Verloren's soul from his body, in the hope that they never join again so he could never be at his full power. They sealed his physical body in Pandora's Box on earth, and used the Eye of Mikhail to make sure it could not escape from its prison. They sealed his soul using the Eye of Raphael, putting his soul in a human- and forcing it to undergo a process of constant reincarnation whenever the human body died- regardless of how the person had lived their life- so it could never enter Heaven again. The threat of Verloren had been eliminated, but since the Ghosts were unable to judge Verloren, they could not return to heaven; instead staying in the mortal world to serve as guardians. After sealing Verloren Now on earth, each Ghost assumed human form and went on to live human lives; they married humans, had human children and died as humans. The Seven Ghosts and their human families went on to form the Seven Houses of God, and the Ghosts' powers were passed on to their children, and further generations. The current ghosts are the descendants of the original seven. During the Raggs War and the Return of Verloren Around 990 years after Verloren had been sealed, the Eye of Raphael malfunctioned- resulting in Verloren's soul awakening, meaning the human who was currently holding Verloren's soul regained all of Verloren's memories and continued with Verloren's crusade against the Chief of Heaven. The descendants of the ghosts that first fought Verloren were again forced to re-group and fight. Currently, not much is known about the Ghosts' roles in the Raggs War. They assisted in Vertrag's plan of going through the God Houses to gather the 07 Sins to form the key for the Gates of Seele. Later, it was revealed that Landkarte had betrayed the other Ghosts, and he killed Profe, Fest and Relikt when they discovered his betrayal. A member of the Raggs family (the God house of Vertrag) and person acting as the Ghost Vertrag, Fea Kreuz, was accused of stealing and escaping with Pandora's Box, and it was this theft that sparked the Raggs War. Pandora's Box had been moved into a human- meaning Verloren's body was at a risk of escaping- so four Ghosts protected and guided Vertrag through the Seven God Houses in order to receive the cursed tickets and travel to the Land of Seele to destroy Verloren's body. This, coupled with the fact Verloren's soul had awakened, caused Ea and Landkarte to separate from the others and go undercover into the military. However, the Ghosts were not successful in their mission, and it resulted in the death of one Ghost, Vertrag, whose reincarnation was killed by Ayanami and devoured by Verloren. The remaining six, however, escaped with their lives.Ayanami has not been seen with any of the remaining 6 Ghosts' powers after the Raggs War- showing Verloren has not devoured any of them. Modern history In chronological order: *Raggs War *Mikage's Death *Attack at the Hausen House *Battle at Hohburg Fortress *Verloren's Revival Trivia *The number of the Ghosts symbolises their connection to God, as the number 'seven' is often seen as the number of God. *The colours of the seven Ghost symbols are the colours of a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. *It is implied that most humans die upon seeing Zehel in his true form. In Kapitel 7, Frau/Zehel says: 'Of those who have gazed uopn me, none lived to tell the tale.' Whether it is the same for the other Ghosts is unknown. *It is possible that the previous generation of Ghosts all always wore the clothes they died in. In the manga chapter where they first awakened as Ghosts, their clothes are shown to be exactly the same as the clothes they wear every other time they appear in the series. However, this is not the case for the current generation of Ghosts. Labrador was not wearing a catsuit when he died, and Frau and Castor were not wearing trench-coats when they died. *The Seven Ghosts' vessels generally tend to be slender, except in the case of Zehel, whose vessels tend to be muscular. *So far, some known causes of death (as humans) for the Ghosts are: poisoning (Karu, Raggs War Profe and Raggs War Fest), drowning (Landkarte), fatal wounds (Castor), dark magic (Lance), corruption by the Flower of Eden (Labrador), and possession by Verloren's Scythe (Frau). *Not much is known about causes of death (as spiritual beings) for the Ghosts. Apart from being devoured by Verloren, it is known that the Ghosts can also die again if their 'core' (heart and soul) is weakened.When Frau was seriously ill after a battle against Ayanami, Castor said: "Your (Frau's) core is in such a bad state, you're going to die." *The Ghosts can survive decapitation when they physically die, After Castor died, his head was severed from the rest of his body, but he reincarnated with his head intact but are unable to survive it a second time. Raggs War Fest, Raggs War Profe and Raggs War Relikt all died when Katsuragi (current) beheaded them. *Hot water seeps into the body of a Ghost and warms it- though wears off after an hour.Said by Frau in Kapitel 36 *It is possible that Ghost vessels do not age at the same rate as ordinary humans once they (Ghosts) have reached their adult years. In the previous generation of Ghosts, although Ea and Landkarte are shown to grow from children to young men, the appearances of the other five Ghosts remain exactly the same over the years. *The Seven Ghosts' vessels generally seem to like wearing dark-coloured clothing when in their casual clothes-Frau, Castor and Labrador all wear black or dark blue clothing when not in their bishop robes, Karu and Guido both wore black clothing, and the Raggs War Profe's top was black. However, Landkarte wore a white cloak. *It is possible for female descendants of the Seven Houses of God to be reincarnated as Ghosts, but the Ghosts seem to be reincarnated as males more often than as females. This could be because the Ghosts are sanctioned to protect the Church, but nuns are not very influential within the church compared to bishops. Also, since Verloren has the appearance of a male and the Ghosts are his fragments, it makes sense that they are reborn male more often. *The Seven Ghosts' vessels appear to have the eating habits of ordinary humans. It is unknown if, unlike ordinary humans, they can survive without water and food, though Frau did once ask for water when his core was in a weakened state. *It seems that the original Seven Ghosts i.e. the first generation of Seven Ghosts, are known as 'the Founders'. In manga chapter 42, when Castor, Lance and Labrador went to the Cuvere, Castor said: 'The place where the Founders sleep never fails to unnerve me.' *In manga chapter 42, it was mentioned that the first generation of Seven Ghosts were the most powerful, because their bodies were of Heaven. *When Castor was human, he was the thirteenth head of the God House of Fest. This could indicate that twelve generations of Seven Ghosts existed before the current one. *Male Ghosts seem to consider each other 'brothers'. Karu has referred to Katsuragi (current) as 'my brother'. Whether female Ghosts consider each other 'sisters' is unknown. Whether a male Ghost and a female Ghost consider each other brother and sister is also unknown. *Child descendants of the Seven Houses of God can be reincarnated as Ghosts, but the older members of the previous generation of Ghosts were shown to be surprised at how young Karu/Ea was, and the Raggs War Relikt even doubted whether Karu would be able to handle the Book of Hades. This suggests that it is unusual for child descendants of the God Houses to act as Ghosts. *It seems that vessels of the Seven Ghosts usually (though not always) start acting as Ghosts when they are in their teens or already adults. *Male vessels of the Seven Ghosts often (though not always) become bishops. However, it appears that female vessels do not become nuns, as the Raggs War Profe has never been shown wearing a nun's habit. *Guido, Karu, and Katsuragi are the only male Ghost vessels shown so far who did not join the Church and become bishops-Guido because he had to attend to Sky Pirate duties, Karu and Katsuragi because they had to infiltrate the military. Category:Spirits Category:World of 07-Ghost Category:Ghost Category:Protagonists